Apparently, when it comes to email, you have the attention span of a goldfish… me too, according to the studies and white papers bandied about on this subject of over the last couple of years.
The research says that if you’re not engaged within the first eight seconds, you’re ready to move on to the next mail. Proceed. Advance. Swipe left. Whatever.
Despite this, the likes of Litmus and other companies carrying out this research are keen to point out that the amount of time people spend reading an email is actually increasing. Not by huge leaps, but by enough to get your message across.
This is not to say that email marketers are now guaranteed to grab an extra few seconds of your attention. They’ll still need a worthwhile offer to keep you reading.
You know the drill. Badly written and smothered in bargain basement HTML design. Delete.
It looks like junk, so file it with the junk.
No more than a couple of seconds.
Opportunity wasted for the marketer.
For email marketers, the challenge is making that choice of interested or not interested your first decision about the email.
The second challenge is keeping you interested.
In 8 seconds.
Whilst it’s hard to believe that there’s actually a definitive answer as to how long any one of us individuals will spend reading an email, as a marketer, it’s best to play safe and get your message across quickly and concisely.
Industry’s method of retaining reader attention capitalises on that first eight seconds by keeping the content brief, light and relevant. If we’re making you an offer, it’s a genuine offer, and that’s the reason it’s come to you.
Sure, if you’re not interested, you can reply and say so, or you can just move on. Proceed. Advance. Swipe right… whatever.
For more details on emails and any other aspect of marketing, get in touch via falon@ideas-industry.com for the team at Industry to give an assessment of how email can boost your sales.